When I was in Elementary School, one of the happiest times in the school year was choosing which paperback books to buy from Scholastic.

One of my favorite books was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I read it over and over as a boy.

This science fiction book shaped my ideas about what civilization should NOT be like.

When I took a writing course in college, the professor taught us that a good way to define something is to write both what it IS and what it IS NOT.

Therefore, I have written two blogs describing what an ideal civilization IS (based on my favorite books as a boy): Bronko: A Knock at the Door by Rosa Eichelberger and The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key (2nd printing 1965).

In contrast, this blog describes what an ideal civilization IS NOT (based on another one of my favorite books as a boy: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury).

In the civilization described by Fahrenheit 451, ALL books are burned. The title described the temperature at which paper burns—Fahrenheit 451.

There are technical manuals needed to operate technology and weapons. But no books that stimulate thinking or discussion; no history books that would describe racism and slavery, nor describe anything else that would make anyone feel bad about themselves or about their nation.

This prophetic science fiction book was written in the early 1950s. Yet it anticipated the attitude toward education by MAGA in the 2020s.

Ironically, despite these extreme efforts to avoid making people unhappy, the book begins with the wife of the main character, Guy Montag, trying to commit suicide.

She finds no answer to her depression—to her meaningless life. Not from the TV screens large enough to fill entire walls of her living room (called “parlor walls”). They entertain and distract people with endless soap operas whose generic, bland characters are intended to avoid offending anyone.

Nor does she find an answer to her depression and her meaningless life by listening to the endless nonstop noise streaming from her earbuds (called “thimble wasps”).

His wife tried to silence the endless distractions and noise by taking too many sleeping pills.

Fortunately, Montag arrived home in time to call for an ambulance that saves her life.

Montag is a fireman. In this perverse future, firemen don’t put out fires.There’s no need to. Everything is fireproof.

Instead, firemen burn books.

Montag begins to question why he burns books. Eventually, he reads some books that he saved from being burnt. Most notably, he saves a portion of the Bible: the book Ecclesiastes.

Montag unravels.

There is not room here to describe his search for the meaning and purpose of his life and of his civilization.

Eventually, his civilization attempts suicide. An atomic war breaks out. He’s far enough away to survive when his city is destroyed in the atomic fire.

The book ends as he and a small group of people begin the process of saving civilization after its attempted suicide.

There’s no ambulance to call.

Instead, they seek salvation from books, including the Bible. This group of people memorized books.

To replace the depressed, meaningless civilization that burned books, they want to create a civilization whose people read, ponder, and discuss the books (including the Bible) that remain—even if the books raise difficult questions about the meaning of life and the purpose of civilization.

BACKGROUND INFO

My writing professor was Nancy Barcus.

If you know someone who is at risk for committing suicide, please call a help line and arrange for professional help.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Why do people commit suicide?

How can you help a person find meaning and purpose for their life?

Why do civilizations commit suicide?

How can you help our civilization find meaning and purpose?

READ MORE

For related thoughts, please read my blogs “Places of Worship: Singing and Praying Hymns in ’Prisons’”, How Do We Build a Civilization That Is Good—That Is Very Good”, “Jesus Climbs the Temple Mount”, “Get Mutual Assured Shalom, Not Mutual Assured Destruction”, and “Too Much ‘TNT’”